A Broken Link
by ArtificialAnarchy
Summary: A drastic change in Harry's childhood opens leads to a new way of life, and a hatred of being controlled.


**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and its universe belong to J.K. Rowling. I make no claim to any of it with this fanfiction.

**A/N:** This is my first attempt at a fan fiction, I honestly have no idea how this will be perceived, but I'm totally willing to listen to advice on how to improve my writing. I realize that to a lot of people this probably comes across a lot like Tom Riddles first encounter with Dumbledore, its is meant to, but don't worry I`ll get a lot more original soon enough. I should warn people though. This story will be a Smart Harry, not especially powerful but Smart. It wont be Dark Harry, but it will be Independent, or as Independent as he can be.

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- A Broken Link -

**Chapter One**

A loud pop sounded across the usual background noise of the midday traffic, heralding the sudden arrival off a particularly unusual looking man, His long silver hair hung past his aged face, and crooked nose, coming to rest along the back off his flamboyantly cut, rich burgundy suit, while his equally silver beard ended along his midriff. The tall figure stood quietly, glancing around himself at the empty back road he had appeared in, shielded from view by the thick overgrown hedges. Seeming to have gathered his baring the tall figure set off following the path at confident pace, walking until he came to a opening in the hedges, where the small country road connected to a wide, sweeping drive way.

The house at the end of the drive, if it could even be called a house, was large it was obviously an impressive building in the past it's old granite exterior, and large, and aged mahogany doors proved testament to that, but its peeling paint, and overgrown lawn showed that it had seen much better days. A heavy clang sounded as the lofty individual pushed the door bell, the sounds of chatter and footsteps reached his ears, and the door swung inward revealing a young girl with no older than ten years, the girl's jaw went slack as she looked upon the bizarre spectacle of the old man in front of her. Taking pity on her he spoke first.

"Hello young lady, my name is Albus Dumbledore; I'm here to see Mrs Holder, I believe she runs this orphanage, does she not?"

The young girl started as she recovered from her reverie at Dumbledore's words and nodded "That's right…I'll just go get her for you, hang on." Dumbledore smiled in response as the young girl ran off down the hallway shouting "Mrs Holder, There's a man at the door for you!" He saw through the door the girl had kindly left open for him as a harassed-looking middle aged woman came bustling though the hall, she stopped in front of the open door as she finally took stock of Dumbledore, before shaking her head in obvious bemusement, once again Dumbledore spoke first.

"Good day, you are Mrs Holder I presume?" with a nod from her, he continued "My name is Albus Dumbledore, I sent you a letter requesting an appointment and you invited me here today"

With another small nod from Mrs Holder and a motioning of her hand Dumbledore crossed the threshold of the orphanage. "Yes, yes, of course, come in sorry about that I almost forgot, there's a room just down here we can talk in" she led Dumbledore through the hall, and into a large, sparsely furnished room with a dozen children of varying age, most were sitting around a small T.V. in the corner of the room, while a couple of older children were sat on a ratty, threadbare sofa reading books, and the oldest in the room at perhaps fourteen years sat cross-legged on the floor indulging a little boy, no older than five or six, in a game of I spy. Some of the children glanced up as they entered the room and performed something of a double take as they stared at Dumbledore.

Mrs Holder grimaced slightly as the children of the room continued to gawp at Dumbledore announcing "I need to speak to Mr Dumbledore in my room, if anyone needs me make sure to knock first" before moving towards another, much smaller room, and leading Dumbledore inside, gesturing for him to take a seat in front of a desk inside and closing the door to her office. "Sorry again about that, we usually have three helpers, but they're all off sick…All of them at the same time, can you believe it" She sighed and shrugged her shoulders, as she walked over and sat behind her desk. "Though I suppose you know how it is, considering you run a school"

Dumbledore smiled light heartedly "Yes I suppose I do, though luckily I have been spared the misfortune of having my entire staff ill on the same day"

Mrs Holder huffed in exasperation at his words "What was the name of this school again Hoggarts...Hogwash?"

"Hogwarts" He replied rather simply, looking quite at ease.

"And how did Harry, get a spot at this school? I don't remember him telling me he`d gotten any kind of scholarship, though it wouldn't surprise me…" she trailed off.

"Oh, how so?" Dumbledore responded, slightly leaning forward in his chair.

Mrs Holder shrugged her shoulders again before responding "He`s just very studious, always got his head in a book, and well…" she broke off and looked at Dumbledore, she seemed to be sizing him up, as if not sure to tell him any more than she had. Dumbledore slid his hand into the inside of his jacket pocket, grasping his wand and mumbled a few choice words, Mrs Holders eyes slid out of focus at his subtle incantation.

"I believe you were telling me about Harry" Her eyes snapped back to focus at Dumbledore's words.

"Err…yes, that's right" She shook her head slightly as if to collect herself "Like I said he's a smart lad, very clever, but there's something about him, something not…right, it's like he has this sway over the other children. Sometimes I think they're afraid of him."

"You think he's a bully?" Dumbledore interrupted, frowning slightly.

"No, no He's definitely not a bully" she continued "In fact he seems to really hate bullying, it's the only time I've seen him actually show any real emotions, when he sees another kid being bullied that is. But when he does that seems to be it, he just has to look at them and it's over. No arguing, no fighting, it's like they already know what he's capable off and understand that they can't win even if they try anything."

Dumbledore lent back in his chair and steepled his fingers together "How long exactly has he been this way?"

"Well that just the thing, I was only transferred here a few years ago" She frowned and lent forward over her desk as if trying to phrase a thought "The people who ran this place before me, a man called Michal Malum, with his wife and her brother. They all died you see; only it's not quite as simple as that." She looked wary now, but seemingly despite her best efforts, felt compelled to tell Dumbledore the rest of her story "When I came here…well there were bruises on a lot of the children, most of them flinched if I tried to touch them, or even if I came too close, whenever I told them to do something, like wash the dishes, or clear the table, they would all look toward Harry first even the older ones, and wait for a nod, or a shrug from him before actually doing anything."

Once again Dumbledore interrupted "You believe Harry was the one who injured them?"

She looked slightly taken aback by Dumbledore suggestion "No I think Harry was the one who protected them" Dumbledore's frowns only deepened at her words "I told you the previous Caregivers died but that's not quite right, Michal Malum, well the official story is that he fell out of one of the girls rooms, up on the third floor…" she trailed off once again, uncomfortable with the telling of her tale.

Dumbledore reached into his jacket pocket, fingering his wand once again, before seemingly changing his made, instead he professed quietly "I think perhaps it's time I met young Harry for myself".

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**A/N: **Well there you go, next chapter is Harry meeting Dumbledore. Like I said I'm completely open to criticism, please tell me what to think! (Thanks to Fatman8theNation for some grammar corrections.)


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